Serving its member governments for over 45 years

The Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission is seeking proposals from qualified firms to perform a Regional Study on Transportation Project Prioritization for Economic Development and Growth. The RFP is availableon this link.

Responses will be accepted until 3:00pm EST on Thursday, September 28, 2017. A non-mandatory pre-proposal conference call will be held at 2:00pm EST on Monday, September 18. To obtain the conference call number or for any other questions, contact Cristina Finch at 540.343.4417 or cfinch@rvarc.org. This public body does not discriminate as outlined by the Code of Virginia. Minority and women-owned businesses are encouraged to apply.

An official public hearing on the region’s Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Vision 2040: Roanoke Valley Transportation, will take place at a meeting of the Roanoke Valley Transportation Planning Organization (RVTPO) Policy Board on Thursday, September 28, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. at the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission office (Top Floor Conference Room), 313 Luck Avenue, SW, Roanoke, VA 24016. The plan is available for review at the Commission office or online by clicking here. The LRTP development process includes a Program of Projects (POP) for transit. Public notice of public participation activities and time established for public review of and comments on the LRTP satisfy the transit POP requirements. The RVTPO strives to provide reasonable accommodations and services for persons who require special assistance to participate in public involvement opportunities. For special accommodations or further information, contact Cristina Finch (Ph: 540-343-4417, Fax: 540-343-4416 or E-mail: cfinch@rvarc.org). Hearing impaired persons can call 711 for access. The RVTPO fully complies with Title VI of the Civic Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes and regulations in all programs and activities. For more information, or to obtain a Discrimination Complaint Form, see http://rvarc.org/transportation/title-vi-and-ada-notices/ or call 540-343-4417.

“The bus doesn’t stop in front of the WIC office in the Northwest. Mothers have to walk two blocks to get there with babies and toddlers.”

This comment was a response to a survey question about long range transportation planning. The Northwest WIC clinic is at the First Church of the Brethren on Carroll Ave NW on top of the ridge. The nearest bus stop is only a quarter-mile away, but no one wants to push a stroller up that steep and treeless climb.

Betty at the WIC clinic gets off the bus four blocks away to avoid the arduous hill. The WIC clinic sees fewer clients than expected because of the hill. Mothers arrive hot and sweaty and asking for water.

The Public Participation Plan ad-hoc committee, tasked with developing a new public participation plan for the Roanoke Valley Transportation Planning Organization, reviewed the survey responses. After we read that comment, a member observed, “A mother trying to get her baby to the WIC office isn’t interested in a 20-year transportation plan.”

Does your long-range transportation vision include easy access to the WIC office for everyone? How would you solve this problem? What other problems would your solutions introduce?

Solution

Feasibility issues

Introduced problems

Reroute the bus

Affects the rest of the route

Move the WIC office

Inferior office space, cost

Run a van to the bus stop

Expensive insurance, child seats, staff time

Call Uber for the last block

Expensive at $7.70, and no child seats

Introduce traffic congestion

Automated vehicles

Don’t exist yet

Introduce traffic congestion

Over the past decades, the region and the nation has done an excellent job of making it easy for most people to get anywhere. The Roanoke Valley has lots of cars, lots of roads, and lots of parking places. Roanoke’s collective mobility is better than ever.

In making it so easy for most people to get everywhere, it’s become very difficult for some people to get anywhere. Over 13% of the Roanoke City households don’t have a car, but nearly all destinations can only be accessed by a car. More than 1 in every 10 people are virtually excluded from daily life: having a job, shopping, visiting the doctor, or going to church, just so that the other 9 of us can do all these things so easily.

This situation has been decades in the making, and will not change overnight. The long-range transportation plan, updated every 5 years, is about getting the balance right, keeping it easy for most people to get most places without putting a great transportation burden on the most disadvantaged.